3105 An Optimal Design Method in First Order Analysis : Simultaneous Optimization of Cross Sectional and Topological Configurations

Abstract

Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) are widely accepted in many mechanical industries such as automotive industries. However, CAE applications are not utilized in the design phase because of the sophisticated operations and a huge amount of time for the analysis. Recently, the concept of a new CAE, First Order Analysis (FOA), has been proposed in order to overcome these problems. In this research, we develop a structural topology optimization methodology in FOA. This optimization method is constructed based on beam elements. The cross sectional dimensions such as the cross sectional area and rotational angle with respect to the principal axis, and the topological configurations of beams are simultaneously treated as design variables. The optimization procedure is developed based on the ground structure approach. Finally, some examples are provided to confirm the optimization method proposed here.